At-the-Bit Piggyback Drilling Solution - an integrated while drilling solution for mud loss control.

Å håndtere store slamtap under boring er en stor utfordring for oljeindustrien. Dagens løsninger er tidkrevende og kostbare. Innovasjonen At-the-Bit Mud Loss Control inkluderer nedihullsteknologier en kontrollert og umiddelbar håndtering av slike tap. Nøkkelegenskapene til det nye verktøyet involverer nedihulls lagring og utløsning av en svellbar polymer, AtB Gel, som sveller mye når den blandes med boreslam og vil forsegle tapsformasjonene. Teknologien er testet i fullskala eksperimentelle brønner. For å modne og kvalifisere teknologien planlegges brønnpiloter i olje og gassfelt. Petroleumsindustrien anerkjenner det høye verdipotensialet knyttet til sikker og kostnadseffektiv boring og redusert logistikk.

The track record of the At-the-Bit Mud Loss Control project have shown the high potential of converting the circulating drilling fluid to a swellable pill downhole. Qualifying laboratory experiments, full scale testing and well pilots have brought the project technology readiness towards TRL4. However, up to now it has not been possible to demonstrate the At-the-Bit technology when drilling in actual lossy well formations. In a close dialogue with ARA Petroleum in Oman as one of the JIP partners the opportunity of implementing the At-the-Bit as a piggyback solution in at least one of their upcoming wells in a field with high chance of mud losses. The proposed project (Phase 5) will include drilling of potentially lossy wells as nominated by ARA Petroleum. Crucial R&D challenges are to investigate the drilling history of offset drilled wells in the area to optimize the operational drilling procedures including where to activate the newly developed polymer gel payload. The formation sealing capability will also be carefully assessed through the data gather during the operations.